1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a housing portion structure that houses an air bag that deploys along the window during inflation and an arrangement structure of an air bag device that includes the housing portion.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Nos. 2005-249368 and 2005-249369 filed Aug. 30, 2005, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2006-64148 filed Mar. 9, 2006, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Among air bag devices used as occupant protective devices mounted in a vehicle, there a door-mounted air bag device in which an air bag disposed between an inner panel of a door and a lining that covers the cabin interior side thereof is deployed upward along the inside surface of the window (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 2941879). This air bag device is made into a unit by housing the air bag in a folded state and the inflator in a case, and attaching this unit to a stepped portion formed in the upper portion of the inner panel of the door. Then, the air bag device thus attached to this inner panel is covered by the door lining.
During a vehicle collision, the door-mounted air bag device protects an occupant by deploying the air bag along the inside surface of the window. As a housing portion structure for housing such an air bag in a vehicle, there is known to be one that has an opening for passing a deploying air bag in the door lining that covers the cabin interior side of the inner panel, with this opening being closed by a lid that is opened by pushing the lid with the air bag during deployment (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H06-227350).
However, in the case of such a structure in which the air bag device attached to the inner panel is covered by the door lining, there has been a problem in that much of the space in the door lining is taken up by the air bag device. Also, there has been a problem in that providing a lid in the door lining causes an increase in the cost of the door lining.
Moreover, a structure that opens a lid by pushing against it with a deploying air bag as described above cannot control the amount of opening of the lid, and so there is the possibility of the opened lid cramping the cabin space by more than is needed.